THE big story doing the
rounds in Abu Dhabi was
that Timo Glock has signed a
deal to race for the Renault
F1 Team in 2010, alongside
Robert Kubica.
The German press reported
the deal to have been signed
over the weekend, although
sources close to Renault
suggested to GPWeek that
while nothing had been
nalised, Glock was top of the
team's list of drivers for 2010
and that negotiations were
well advanced.
Glock himself is understood
tobekeenonamoveto
Renault as the team sets about
reinventing itself in its post-
Briatore days.
The German, right, is
now certain to leave Toyota
next season, following big
suggestions in Abu Dhabi
that he was fully t to race but
was being kept out of the car
by what a team insider told
GPWeek was "politics."
THE third season of the GP2
Asia Series got underway in
Abu Dhabi, and it was the
experienced Davide Valsecchi
who stole the show.
The Italian was in a class of
his own over the course of the
weekend and came close to
recording a perfect weekend in
his rst outing with the iSport
team.
GP2 Asia arrived in Abu
Dhabi a week earlier than
F1 to conduct a two-day
test session at the new track.
While it was Luca Filippi in the
Meritus who set the pace in
the test, even the Italian had
conceded before the racing
began that he'd be lucky to
get on terms with Valsecchi.
His countryman's laptimes on
full fuel in the test had been
ominously fast.
And thus it came as little
surprise when Valsecchi
romped to pole position,
driving the 2007-spec GP2 car
that Timo Glock had taken to
the title. He was joined on the
front row by rookie Sam Bird for
ART, with another rookie, Fabio
Liemer, taking third for Ocean.
In the feature race, Valsecchi
was in a class of his own, and
despite losing the lead to Luca
Filippi under one of many
safety car periods, was simply
too fast for his compatriot to
deny.
There was only ever going to
be one winner of the race, and
Valsecchi stomped to victory,
recording fastest lap along the
way. Filippi took second with
James Jakes, who had sat out
the whole of 2009, returning
to racing with ne aplomb for
Super Nova.
While Liemer had stalled at
the start, his team-mate Alex
Rossi had shone in the race,
taking fourth position on his
debut ahead of young Czech
Josef Kral, Christian Vietoris,
Johnny Cecotto and Olivier
Turvey in eighth and on pole
for the reverse grid sprint. Sam
Bird had been set for points
until his ART gave up the ghost
on the penultimate lap.
The second race was won at
the start when rookie Vietoris
blasted into the lead at Turn 1.
He was never headed and
took his DAMS to a deserved
victory. Behind him Valsecchi
had been the man on the
move. Up to sixth on lap one,
he soon dispatched Filippi,
and followed it up almost
immediately by taking his
team-mate Turvey.
With ve laps left to go,
Valsecchi was fourth, which
became third when he put a
lovely move on Rossi. And on
the nal lap the Italian moved
in for the kill on Kral, passed
him and took second position.
It had been an awe-inspiring
weekend for Valsecchi, who
nally showed the racecraft his
talent and huge personality
has been promising for so long.
On this kind of form there isn't
another driver in the eld who
will be able to challenge him...
but there's a long way to go. The
next race isn't until the new year.
With 15 rookies in the eld,
the talent on display in the
Asia Series is, for perhaps
the rst time, something to
get very excited about. It'll
be fascinating to see how
the championship plays out,
and how many of these new
hotshots are rewarded with a
drive in the main series in 2010.
GP2:Valsecchi unstoppable in Asia opener
Glock set for Renault
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